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  • Essay / Spirulina Cultivation System for Smart People

    Table of ContentsNutritional Content of SpirulinaOptical Density Based Feeding MethodAlgae Cultivation Using Microcontroller PlatformMaximum Spirulina Growth Yield in photobioreactorsMass production of spirulinaEvaluation techniquesComponents DescriptionArduino microcontrollerPin DescriptionIR sensorSim 800a moduleSpirulina is blue unicellular and filamentous - green algae. Many species in the algae and cyanobacteria category have shown an anticancer effect in animal tests, and some of them are currently in clinical trials. Spirulina Platensis, the species this study focuses on, has shown antiviral, anti-epileptic and many other medically active performances, esp. Due to this popularity, the consumption of microalgae products is increasing rapidly and the need for stable and efficient production of microalgae arises. However, technical and financial limitations and stable mass production of microalgae are not easy tasks to solve. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayPrecise control of the environmental conditions at the place where the microalgae grows and timely supply of the necessary materials would be the most prerequisites for stable growth. microalgae. This requirement could be met by mass culture and automated microcontroller system. The Smart Spirulina system is developed and evaluated to automate the entire production of spirulina algae. The main objective of the system is to avoid human intervention and design a system integrating various sensor units and a stirrer. The sensor unit is capable of monitoring the tank for the entire process. The project includes an RTC (Real Time Clock) module connected to a DC motor and used to stir the tank automatically every hour. Sensors such as pH sensor and temperature sensor are used for daily monitoring of algae conditions. The IR sensor is used to determine the growth of spirulina. Once the algae is ready to be harvested, a notification is sent to the grower via the GSM module. Spirulina is a freshwater blue-green algae that formed the first plant life on earth nearly three billion years ago. Spirulina is a powerhouse of nutrition that forty years ago was declared by the United Nations as the healthiest food in the world. The nutritional profile of algae is so impressive that the scientific, nutritional, sports and medical communities have conducted more than 100,000 scientific studies on its health benefits [1]. Spirulina provides the world's highest concentration of protein, all in the form of essential amino acids for muscle, health and cell growth. Its more than forty nutrients ensure complete nutritional health and its natural nitric oxide provides immediate and lasting physical and mental energy. Spirulina is also rich in all the B vitamins, electrolytes and other minerals necessary for health, including zinc and magnesium. Various health benefits of spirulina are that it helps improve sports performance, is a powerful antioxidant, protects the brain, boosts immunity, provides physical energy and mental awakening, helps build muscles, to stop fatigue and also to lose weight. It is also an excellent substitute for animal proteins or green vegetables. ByTherefore, the commercial production of spirulina has attracted worldwide attention for its use in human dietary supplements, animal feed and pharmaceutical products. Spirulina growth and the composition of the biomass produced depend on many factors, the most important of which are nutrient availability, temperature and light [1]. Additionally, spirulina requires high pH values ​​between 10 and 10.5, which effectively inhibits contamination by most algae present in the crop. Reduced cost production of spirulina is necessary when considering large-scale cultivation for industrial purposes. Nutrient cost is considered the second major factor influencing the cost of spirulina biomass production after work. In this study, Zarrouk medium is used for the cultivation and production of spirulina. Zarrouk medium has successfully served as the standard medium for growing spirulina for many years. Nutritional content of spirulina UN figures show that more than 250 million children suffer from malnutrition. Spirulina has a very high micronutrient content and is easy and inexpensive to produce locally. It is therefore a very realistic and also sustainable solution to the problem of malnutrition. Spirulina contains 28.9 mg of iron in 100 g of products, or 210% of the recommended daily intake. Additionally, studies have found that it contains a lot of vitamin B. Spirulina platensis 100 g may contain 207% of the recommended daily intake of thiamine (vitamin B1) and 306% of the suggested daily intake of riboflavin ( vitamin B2). Through these study results, many pharmaceutical or health supplement companies have highlighted the potential of Spirulina. For all these reasons, spirulina production is considered essential for revolutionizing algae growth. Yao Yao et al improved a previously developed optical density (OD) sensor for measuring biomass concentration in algal cultures and tested the performance of the improved sensor. . The sensor has been improved in the following several aspects. First, the sensor housing was redesigned to accommodate a new optical measurement setup and reference cell. Second, a constant current LED driver circuit was built and included. Third, a feedback-controlled mechanism (including thermistors and thermoelectric cooling modules) was constructed to control the temperature of the LEDs. Ultimately, a logarithmic IC chip was used for processing the raw results from the photodiodes. Feedback method based on optical density. The method proposed by Bao, Yilu et al for cultivating Spirulina platensis using ammonium salts or ammonium-containing wastewater as alternative nitrogen sources is considered a commercial way to reduce costs. In this research, by analyzing the relationship between biomass production and ammonium-N consumption in plate-based batch cultivation of spirulina using ammonium bicarbonate as a nitrogen nutrient source, an online adaptive control strategy based on optical density (OD) measurements to control ammonium supply. Algae cultivation using a microcontroller platform Minju Jennifer Kim et al stated that Spirulina plantensis, many microalgae have attracted attention many diverse research areas due to their highly applicable potential on many global issues such as energy depletion and greenhouse effects. The consumption of microalgae products is increasing rapidly and the needof stable and efficient production of microalgae is felt. The microcontroller system could be more elaborately applied to algae cultivation technologies. Maximum growth yield of spirulina in photobioreactorsA. Saeid and K. Chojnacka discuss the evaluation of the cultivation parameters of Spirulina maxima in two reactors (large-scale laboratory (LL) and semi-technical (ST)), with different illuminated volumes, and the costs of exploitation. It has been proven that it is possible to cultivate Spirulina maxima under temperate climatic conditions in reactors of simple construction and low cost. Spirulina Mass ProductionAvigad Vonshak & Amos Richmond have examined in detail the basic requirements required to achieve high productivity and low production cost. . There is a need for a wide variety of algae species and strains that will respond favorably to the various environmental conditions existing outdoors. Another key requirement is for better bioreactors, either by improving existing open cable tray types or by developing tubular closure systems. The latter solution seems more promising. These developments must overcome the main limitation facing the industry today, namely the overall low actual yields which are too far below the theoretical maximum and which are associated with the expansion of microalgae cultivation to a commercial size. Evaluation Techniques Most farmers grow spirulina in open canals, shallow ponds and use water wheels to move the water. The motors that pump fresh water into spirulina ponds can use solar cells to minimize energy consumption and waste. These bacteria can double their biomass every two to five days. Farmers can easily convert infertile land into spirulina cultivation ponds because these ponds can operate anywhere. Growers must continually add clean, fresh water and nutrients for spirulina to continue to thrive. Spirulina needs nitrogen, potassium and iron the most, so farmers need to add these nutrients to the water. Spirulina cultivation changes quickly if not maintained properly. Crops can grow quickly or die in less than a few hours. Spirulina ponds are easily contaminated with toxic microorganisms and farmers must carefully control environmental conditions. Spirulina must therefore grow in artificial ponds [2]. The water should be kept between 84 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. Spirulina needs sunlight, so any growing location should be able to provide it. It is also important that the location can provide shade, as direct sunlight can harm spirulina, especially in its early stages. The spirulina used here is grown in an open pond/pool. Since it is an open pond, a cover is necessary to protect from rain, as rain will dilute the growing culture and change the pH level. This is also important when the pool is exposed to strong winds that carry dust and dirt, as well as in cases where there are many insects. The pond should be cleaned of sediment every six months. During cleaning, the liquid containing the spirulina is transferred to another swimming pool, basin, or even pots and buckets. Water and soap used for washing dishes is good for cleaning the pool. In the existing system, an Arduino microcontroller is used to monitor the algae culture medium [3]. The completed microcontroller system wascarefully leaned and taped to the back of the culture vessel in a closed acrylic plastic lidded chamber equipped with antibacterial HEPA filters and electric fans. The system must detect several parameters and react accordingly. For example, when the room space was above 35ₒC, the electric fan turns on to cool down the climate temperature. It also detects pH, temperature range and light intensity. On the other hand, sound alerts and a warning LED were activated when parameters were out of range in the software sketch [3]. The parameters are monitored and only an LED indication is given to the cultivator. The LED indication alone will not be helpful to the grower in monitoring the system. Component DescriptionArduino MicrocontrollerArduino is quickly becoming one of the most popular microcontrollers used in robotics. There are many types of Arduino microcontrollers that differ not only in design and functionality, but also in size and processing capabilities. Many features are common to all Arduino boards, making them very versatile. All Arduino boards are based on ATMEL's ATMEGA AVR series microcontroller which has both analog and digital pins. Arduino has also created software compatible with all Arduino microcontrollers [3]. Pin Description Pins 1, 2: Connections for standard 32.768 kHz quartz crystal. The internal circuitry of the oscillator is intended to operate with a crystal having a specified load capacitance of 12.5 pF. X1 is the oscillator input and can also be connected to an external 32.768 kHz crystal. The output of the internal oscillator, X2, drifts if an external oscillator is connected to X1. Pin 3: Battery input for any standard 3V lithium battery or other power source. Battery voltage should be between 2V and 3.5V for proper operation. Pin 4: This pin is grounded. Pin 5: Serial data input/output. The input/output of the I2C serial interface is the SDA, which is open drain and requires a pull-up resistor, allowing a pull-up voltage of up to 5.5 V. Regardless of the voltage on VCC. Pin 6: Serial clock input. This is the clock input of the I2C interface and is used in data synchronization. Pin 7: Square wave driver/output. Pin 8: Main power supply. When voltage is applied within normal limits, the device is fully accessible and data can be written and read. When backup power is connected to the device and VCC is less than VTP, reading and writing are prohibited. However, at low voltage, the timing function still works. The DS1307 real-time clock (RTC) IC is an 8-pin device using an I2C interface. The DS1307 is a low-power clock with 56 types of SRAM battery backup. The clock/calendar provides qualified data on seconds, minutes, hours, day, date, month and year. They are available as integrated circuits (ICs) and supervise timing like a clock and also function like a calendar. The main advantage of the RTC is that they have a battery backup device that keeps the clock/calendar running even in the event of a power outage. . RTC is found in many applications such as embedded systems and computer motherboards, etc. Here, the RTC module is used to automatically stir the tank for an interval of one hour. The RTC is connected to the digital pin of an Arduino microcontroller which is attached to a.